Dairy Cattle Milking

• Cows are milked 2 times a day,

some 3 times
• Milk: the normal secretion of the
mammary gland is an emulsion of fat in
watery solution of sugar and mineral salts,
and with protein in colloidal suspension.

• The principal components in milk are: fat,

SNF, which are made up of protein, lactose,
and minerals, vitamins and several types of
cells, i.e. leukocytes, and mammary
secretary cells.
Milking is the act of removing milk
from the mammary glands of an animal,
typically cattle, water buffalo .
 Milking may be done by hand or by
machine.
Milking is an art can be performed by
well experienced person with the
maximum yield in the limited time of let
down.
Let down is aided by hormonal effect of
oxytocin secreted by posterior pituitary
gland.
Milking process must be completed
within 6-8 minutes which is the duration
of hormonal effect.
 Advantages of scientific method of milking :
• Injuries to the udder can be avoided
• Enables clean milk production
• Prevent mastitis occurrence
• Prevent involution of udder
• Maintains lactation period
• Enables complete evacuation of udder
 Requirement of scientific method of milking:
• Milking demand :skills ,patience and experience
• No disturbance, noise and flies
• Milking process should be uniform and rapid with
quietness and should be continuous until the
drawing of complete milking
• Avoid beating , exciting the animal which leads to
withhold of milk due to secretion of adrenalin into
the blood stream
• Gentle handling ,udder massaging and calf sucking
for the milk let down. To be without discomfort to
the animal
 Do’s and Don’ts in milking
Milking time should not be abruptly changed
Milker should be rotated to avoid accoustimisation to
maximum milking
Wet milking should not be adopted
Do not commence the milking until the milking has let
down
Perform the dry and full hand milking
 Full hand Milking followed by stripping for complete
removal of milk
Keep the animal busy by offering some concentrated
ration
Knuckling procedure should be avoided as it causes teat
injury which may lead to mastitis
 METHODS OF MILKING
1 . HAND MILKING :
Milking is accomplished only by proper application of
force in which the sphincter muscles surrounds the
teats may streaked to make an opening for milk to
the discharged
a. FULL HAND MILKING
b. STRIPING METHOD
c. KNUCKLING METHOD
FULL HAND MILKING
 Most appropriate
 Teat is held within fingers
encircling the teat.
 The base of teat being
encircled by thumb and fore
finger.
 The teat is squeezed in
between the middle, ring and
little finger and hallow the
palm, then milk is forced out.
 The process is repeated in
quick succession of alternate
compression and relaxation.
Stripping method
• Teat is firmly squeezed at
its base in between the
thumb and forefinger
which are then drawn
downwards the entire
length of teat pressing it
thus causing downwards
milk flow.
• The process is completed
in quick successions using
of both hands for
different teats
Knuckling method
• Teat is pressed with
folded thumb and fore
finger and drawn in
downwards direction.
• In this method , teat
injuries may lead to
mastitis.
• Pain may cause
incomplete evacuation
of udder and increased
residual milk.
• This is not a good
method.
Full hand milking Stripping method

Quick Slow
 Useful for cows Useful in cows with small teats
Stimulate natural suckling This method is necessary even
process full hand milking to remove
complete milking
Discomfort to animal
Machine milking:
• Milking machine was first
devised in 1903 by Alexander
Gillies of Australia.
• It is one of the most important
equipment in dairy as its is
used more hours per day
Components of milking machine
• Source of vacuum by vacuum
pump
• Receptacle for collection of
milk
• Teat cup and liner for each cup
• Pulsator
Principle
• The principle of machine milking is to extract milk from the
cow by vacuum
• The machines are designed to apply a constant vacuum to
the end of the teat to suck the milk out and convey it to a
suitable container, and to give a periodic squeeze applied
externally to the whole of the teat to maintain blood
circulation.
• The purpose of pulsator is introduced to atmospheric air
and vacuum, alternately between the shell and liner of the
teat cup. When pulsator is an open space for vacuum, liner
takes its normal open shape and milk flows out .
• When air is introduced to open space ,pressure is increased
and outside of the liner of the teat cup causing collaption.
This massages the teat and closes the teat orifice. In this
phase of cycle, milk will not come out.
• Pulsation : opening and closing of the teat cup liner
together add up to one pulsation.
• Pulsation rate : optimum no. of pulsation /min is
48-52.
• Pulsation ratio: ratio of lenth of time of teat cup
liner is in milking phase to the lenth of time it is in
colapsed phase gives the pulsation ratio. normal
pulsation ratio in modern milking machine is 2:1.
• Milk film is formed at the tip of the teat at the end
of the milking operation so apply antiseptic lotion
around the teat to prevent the milk film and
microbial growth stripping can be done by using the
machine by drawing the teat cup slowly.
 Types of milking systems:
Bucket machine milking:
• Bucket milking machines were designed
particularly for herds kept in cowsheds.
• Each portable unit, consisting of a 15 litre
capacity lidded bucket, pulsator and teat-cup
assembly or cluster, requires manual
attachment to a vacuum supply when it is
moved from cow to cow during milking.
Advantages
• The system is mechanically simple with
relatively low investment, running and
maintenance costs compared with milking
machines in parlours.
Disadvantages
• Milking performance is restricted in terms of
cows milked per hour by the amount of work
that must be carried out on each cow (the
work routine). A high proportion of time and
effort is spent walking from cow to cow and
manually carrying equipment and
transporting, lifting and tipping milk.
Direct-to-can milking:
• It is applicable to this particular
parlour. Compared with bucket
machines, the capital investment,
running costs and labour input are
lower. As a complete system of
milking, cooling and cleaning it is very
simple indeed.
• Specially devised for abreast parlour
milking.
• Milk is drawn direct from the udders to
the milk cans via a specially designed
lid which connects the milk can to the
vacuum supply. Manual lifting,
carrying and tipping of milk is
eliminated with a consequent
improvement in milking efficiency and
performance. and thus enabling each
operator to manage 4 or 5 milking
units effectively.
Pipeline milking:
• Is a high investment, low labour cost system, originally installed in
cowsheds and milking barns but particularly suited to large and
medium sized herds milked in parlours with bulk milk collection.
Milk is transported direct from udder to refrigerated bulk milk tank for
cooling and storage, and plant cleaning is done in-situ.
 The Milking Process

• 1. At milking time, wash the teats,

wear gloves
–Disinfecting the teats and
triggers the release of oxytocin,
which initiates milk let-down
The Milking Process
 The Milking Process

• 2. Teats are then dried with

individual paper towels
The Milking Process
 The Milking Process

• 3. One inflation of the milking

claw is placed on each teat or
quarter
The Milking Process
 The Milking Process

• 4. Vacuum applied to claw,

which draws the milk from the
udder. Flow meter determines
amount of milk being produced
by cow
The Milking Process
 The Milking Process

• 5. When milk stops, flow meter

reads 0 milk intake and milking
claw falls off automatically
 The Milking Process

• 6. Each teat is then dipped in

Iodine to prevent bacterial
invasion
• Total time: 7 minutes
The Milking Process